Hello guys,

After many months of planning my house build is finally in full swing. Since the Fry 117 I have will serve as one of the lights on the deck I have started the process of bringing it back to at least some of it's prior glory.

I am a complete novice at doing gas pumps, but I know enough from doing car wrenching to be dangerous.

If you would like to add CONSTRUCTIVE advice please do so, non-constrcutive advice shall be ignored.

This will not be a full blown rebuild, I do not plan to take it back to 100% perfection. This will be a well intentioned but cost effective rebuild.

Do not misunderstand, I think old gas pumps are very cool. But they are gas pumps, not holy relics.

Michael

One word:
Rustoration.
Good luck and I can't wait to see the result.

The glass was removed last year. So this weekend I removed the number rods from the top of the pump.

Here are some 'before and after' pics. Using CLR on the numbers, put the 4" grinder with a steel brush cone on the rods.

Thanks Steve.

Sadly the pump was face down in a ditch for MANY years. The front is in worse shape than the back. I need to decide if I will try to fill the rust dimples in before prime and paint. The wife says I should leave it, will give it more of a authentic look.

Honestly I'd leave it, and go for a Rustoration. It'll look good I'm sure when its done!

Check these out and get in touch with Matt. Hopefully, he can give you a couple tips.
I look very forward to your results as I hope to also be doing this in the next year or so and I'll be coming into it with the same experience, none!

BTW, it looks like that pump has great bones. Very nice example it appears!!

http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.p...true#Post530199

http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.p...true#Post525717

That's what I will probably do.

The rods can be seen (barely) in the upper right corner of this pic. The wire brush cup did a great job cleaning them up.

The ten long bolts that circle the outside of the glass are toast though. I hope to find them local this week. But if anyone has a source for them online cheap let me know. Worse comes to worse, will add them to the 'Vics66' list of things to buy.

I can't believe there's not more rot out, you got lucky, its in pretty decent condition still. They are right, try to keep it as original as you can. Find an old brass nozzle and old hose for it. Just try & wire it for a globe which sits in the cup on top and your good. Good luck Bud.

Goober

Do not under any circumstances try to remove the rings from the cylinder. Wire brush, steel wool, Ospho and paint them. Tape off the glass.
Dave

No worries Dave, I remember that was the first piece of advice I got about the cylinder. It was removed with rings, just dusted off, and wrapped in about 4 layers of bubble wrap for storage. Will get it out soon for the steel wool etc cleaning.

Would love to find an old brass nozzle and hose, just afraid if I do it will be outside my budget. But going to give it a good try. If I still don't have one by the completion I have a hose and semi-modern nozzle that can go on it as a temp.

So after checking with the guys at Ace Bolt and Screw today I decided I had three options on the exterior cylinder bolts:

1. buy them from a online supplier, about $65 to $70 for 10 with shipping

2. buy threaded rods from lowes or home depot, much cheaper (about $16 with 20 nuts), but wouldn't look the same.

3. buy cold roll steel and make my own rods

So being a self-helper and a little hard-headed I of course decided on number 3.

Picked up 5 48" rods from Lowes for $20.65 and 10 1/4-20 nuts (same size and thread count as original rods) for $1.40. Will swing by Harbour Freight for a basic tap and die set for $10. Already have an idea how to round the top of the rods...will just have to see how these turn out. The good news is that the original bolts are a little under 24" each, so will have some extra length to try a couple techniques to round the tops.

Fun to watch Grasshoppers save $!

Use lots of oil. You may have to replace the die with a better quality one, like from Ace hardware or somewhere of that caliber. If you have never used a die before, once you get it started straight go about a half turn at a time and back up each time to break the chips.

Do you have a mig welder? I would cut the heads off about an inch down off of the original rods and splice them onto the new rods. Taper the piece you cut off and taper the end on the new rod. Weld the two pieces together. Then carefully grind and finish the rod shank or turn on a lathe.

You're not hard headed or obstinate if you admit you are. You have insight and just won't budge on your train of thought. LOL.
I am surprised that DB didn't photoshop a case of beer with your newly bought tools.
Keep us apprised with your progress.

No guts, no glory!!! Just kiddin. The pump looks like its in fairly good shape. I wonder down the road if you may regret painting it without doing a real nice restoration. Any paint you put on now you'll have to strip off later when you decide to do a full blown restoration. Personal decision either way. Good luck and show pics as you go. Those pumps are beautiful when restored.

Advice much appreciated. When I returned from Iraq I purchased a 25 year old German car as a daily driver; about an hour each way to work. So have no doubt I have a lot of experience with tap and die usage. But my 'good' set is an all metric set I picked up in the middle east. So just purchasing a 1/4-20 die won't fit it. Will see what Ace has to offer though. Just don't think I will use the SAE set that often.

I do have both a wire feed and a stick welder, have used them just enough to be dangerous. No lathe. Sounds like a job beyond my skills to be honest, but if my current plan just doesn't work I will give it a shot. Thank you for the idea, had not even considered it Dave.

michael

Thanks for the kind words Tucker. I think it will look great on the deck of the new house. Plan for it to stand tall between the 7 person hot tub and the custom whiskey barrel/beer keg grill I will build. I built my first beer keg a few months ago, will refine the design and have one mounted on each side of the whiskey barrel that will serve as a prep table.

So yesterday I cut off a piece of the side conduits to take to a Lowes or HD to see what I can find as a replacement. Have my own pipe bender. Was surprise to see how thick the tubing really was. Amazing how most of it had rusted away over the years. Amazing also was the fact that it was made this thick as a wiring conduit, they really don't make things like they use to.

So a quick stop at the local harware store, standard 1/2" steel pipe was perfect size. Might not mess with getting them threaded, maybe a clean tack weld. 2 four foot pieces $14.47 with tax.

The coupling are there for a reason & will have to be there.

Something that should be mentioned here:

CLR did clean the number tags really well. But it was a process of soaking for a while and rubbing them for a while then repeat.

But then I remembered the smal ultrasonic cleaner I have. Purchased it off Ebay for $20 a few years ago. I used it the clean automobile fuel injectors.

Putting the tags in the ultrasonic cleaner with some Evaporust cleaned them really well in about three cycles (maybe 10 min).

That is the route I would recommend to others.

It is a small cleaner unit that you would put jewerly in for cleaning. The tub in it is stainless steel though so you can use them by putting CLR, Evapo or brake cleaner in it and let her rip.

So with the house build going on I can't really justify doing a perfect restoration, besides it will take years finding individual authentic parts.

So just going to focus on getting it finished with self-made parts for now if I can. Then as the years trickle by I will keep my eyes and ears open open for good deals on the parts I will need to do a top notch restoration down the road.

Yesterday I took one of the modern pump nozzles I had laying around and began playing around with it to get ideas on how to give it a more of a antique look.

Used my trusty 24" pipe wrench to remove what was left of the conduit piping as well as the side vent pipe that was coming out of the bottom. Plan to attach the side vent pipe to the custom barrel/keg grill as a vent. I liek the way it looks, just didn't like it sticking out the side of my Fry.

Used the pipe wrench and a grinder with a cutting disk attached to remove some unwanted/needed piping at the bottom. Still pretty nasty downstairs. But a trip to the self car wash will get most of it out I bet. After that plan to let it dry over night then coat everything I can on inside with end-rust.

Used the tap and die set from Harbour Freight to clean out the hole where the pump handle bolts in. I always have some Marvel Mystery oil around, good stuff.

One of the great things about taking over the 1800 sq foot shop from my father who retired from farming is there are always plenty of bolts in the bolt bins to dig through and extra pieces of piping etc laying about. Took me about 10 min but these should work. The piping will be cut down on the chop saw to serve as a back spacer for the pump handle.

A new reproduction pump handle will run you about $60 in alum and $100 in brass. This is an original one (supposedly) that ends on Ebay tonight, 10 hours remaining bid over $150.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171424707317?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Like I said in a couple/few years I will start colleccting original parts to do a full blown restoration. But for now I will see if I can make one that will be ok. It won't fool 'pump guys' but I'm not trying to.

The hose I have been planning is at least one size too big in diameter. Was used for pumping diesel.

Going to try to find a better replacement.

Original Hose was 1 1/4" - 1 1/2", any thing else will look like a Disney Mouse.
Check the exit threads on pump for correct size.
Nozzles were the Most changed out item on ALL PUMPS.


BETTER to do things right the 1st time as it'll cost 2-3X as much to RE-DO later, IF you ever do it.

Took a few minutes searching in Home Depot but found this 1 1/4" rubber hose for less than $12. It is 10' long. Keep in mind, these are NOT rated for fuel transfers. If you are doing a pump for looks only, it will work fine. If you are going for a working fuel pump you should not even think about using this hose.

michael

Tried to clean up the tags with a little CLR on a rag with little luck.

If anyone could offer suggestions much appreciated. Not sure cleaning them on or off the pump would be best plan of action.

Is 1 1/4" hose from HD Inside Dia?

Bailing Wire or Hose Clamps to hold fittings on!

Since you are going to keep the pump outside, as I have done for 2 of my pumps, I recommend that you have the exterior sandblasted, if budget allows and then use two part epoxy primer to keep the rust from forming. I tried to power sand with discs and wire brush to remove the rust and could never remove 100% like the sand blasting does. I was able to get the exterior blasted for $50. Boat shops carry two part epoxy for boat hulls. It is expensive, but I believe it creates a barrier to rust better than traditional primers.

Try Brasso or equivalent and steel wool on the tags and then seal with polyurethane asap or a sealer made for brass. I purchased a small can of polyurethane at a hobby shop. The spray size is a very fine mist.

Thank you for the helpful info model72. I was planning a primer but the two part primer sounds like a very good idea and will look into it.

I assume I should not try removing the tags to clean them then? Was hoping to not have to, but I know to do a good paint job they should be reomved.

If you are not taking the skin off, you will not be able to tap out the ID plate fasteners from the back side. If you are removing the skin, you can tap the fasteners out with a small punch and reuse them. A quart of epoxy primer should be enough for 2 exterior coats. At West Marine, the quart of epoxy is around $53 plus you must purchase a quart of reducer to thin the epoxy. Reducer is $38.

The back side of my first pump was dimpled from laying on the ground for an extended period of tim, but that was fine with me; sandblasted it, primed and painted, and it works for me.

No was not planning to remove the skin off. Will pick up some Brasso this week and post pics of the results. Thanks again model72.

On a unrelated note, I have found some members posts to be less than helpful or to be more exact the amount of helpful information I get in their replys is not worth the amount of extra BS that it comes with.

The moderators were nice enough to inform me how to set my forum settings so now I do not have to read any of those comments:

You can choose to
electronically "Ignore this user" to filter out certain member's posts.
See how:
http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=227737

You click on the perons name then click on their profile and click ignore this user. Once you do that any of their posts just show up blank.

Just did it, I like it already.

Once you have removed the oxidation layer from the ID tags with Brasso or equivalent, use a brass brush attachment on a dremel tool to polish the brass to a brighter luster.

25yr old German car and daily driver don't go together in the same sentence LOL. Looking forward to the outcome. Cool pump!

I know exactly what you mean. ********************

So today got back on hitting the rough spots with the wire brush grinder. Amamzing how much a few minutes can make.

Safety note, be sure to wear some sort of mask when using a grinder on this type of stuff. Always assume some stuff this old has lead based paint on it. I switch between simple masks from Walgreens and the 3M respirator depending on the job.

michael

Started making the lower doors today. The bolt holes are 5/16th btw, a little oil and tap work had them working great again. M

Making lower doors for a 117 is turning out to be more complex than what I thought to be honest. So switched to working on my Irish mine-pub after about :30 on this. Tomorrow will give alum plate a chance at it.

Yesterday I ordered to top globe, globe cup, decal, top door, gaskets etc for the 117. So if all goes well will have it all together in about a month.

Then the lext step is to finish my grandfathers Tok short 39 pump that will go on the car port.

michael

Been cleaning up the rings with a small wire on the drill VERY CAREFULLY.

After the rings are brushed up good will be taping off the rings and apply this 'end-rust' product. I have tried several types of this stuff in the military and working off-shore and have had mixed results on various metals. If you are painting over it they are all about the same. Sometimes it turns rust a cool looking dark brown and sometimes you never know what color you will end up with.

Got a box of goodies from Vics 66 in today. Kind of like an early Christmas, in more ways than one. How many places still send out free full color catalogs? Kind of like being 8 again and flipping through the Sears Christmas catalog.

Evaporust is a non-haz product that removes rust and does not harm glass. You can pour the Evaporust into a pan and then soak the rings in the liquid. It works wonders with no nasty odor and no acid.

I believe you suggested that before, and I know we have some in my shop somewhere. Thanks model72 will use it instead.

michael

At age 57, I can't remember small details from day to day!

I'm 44 and know what you mean.

This afternoon I worked on removing the 'tree' from the top of the pump.

This is all I needed to get it done. Yep, that's a lie. I also needed several doses of Liquid Wrench and a 'cheater bar' about 3 ft long.

So to be honest I'm not sure how the light 'bars' attach to the tree after passing through the cup. I will figure out something but if someone could post a pic or two of one they have it would be appreciated.

Not sure how I will remove what is left of the conduits.

Going to put the tree through the ultrasonic cleaner a few times in the monring and see what it looks like then.

The tree was so rusted up it took a while but finally got the pass through from the bottom to the side cleared out enough to put a big zip tie through

Interesting design.

It is going to be a trick top mark the bolts holes for the rear door to be mounted. Almost no room from the front to the back at the top and bottom.

If anyone knows a quick and easy trick for this please let me know.

To remove the threaded conduit pieces from the tree. I would take a hacksaw blade and insert it into the conduit and slowly by hand cut thru the conduit. Then repeat 180 degrees across from the first cut. Once you have done that, use a chisel to fold in the conduit at the cuts. It will come out of the tree in two pieces.

Been watching from the beginning. A friendly suggestion, either type your name at the end of each post or have it in your signature...Some of us have unique handles. But I refuse to call you F40LM....just sayin'

Larry

I am REALLY enjoying this post.
The process of decisions and discovering solutions is great!
Keep up the fantastic work!!

LOL. I understand, just my favorite car of all time I use it on a couple of forums. So now it is just easy for me to remember.

michael

Great technique, will give it a try this weekend.

Michael

Thanks Dave I appreciate it. After I get the Fry finished I will begin a thread rebuilding my grandfather's Tok 39 short. It will go on the carport along with a gas station style garbage can and a rebuild air compressor from the same era (roughly). I am planning to do that set in Magnolia Gas. I want a different paint scheme than the Fry, and MG will give a nood to our state flower.

michael

So it took a little trial and error but turns out the two bolt holes of the upper rear door also is 1/4 x 20. A dose of Marvel Mystery and a few passes with the tap brought them bake.

Found some 1/4 bolts laying about so used the 1/4 die with a lock grip adjustable wrench to take the threads all the way down.

Bolts were a little long so chopped them with a 4 1/2 grinder with a cutting disk and double check depth. Looks like they will work fine.

So gave the hacksaw blade idea out. Here is how it went. Took blade out of hack saw, placed tree in vise, opened beer. 20 min later blade broke in half, continued to use half of it. 30 min in beer gone and had barely scratched the tree, ok I had some decent grooves going but I was getting bored. What ends boredom? Power tools of course. Got the jig saw out. 10 min after that had made some good progress, then it's blade broke. Ok bad execution, but the idea was a sound one. Going to by another couple of blades tomorrow to continue. While waiting put the tree into a Evaporust wrap.

It seems that you have learned the utility of beer in this process, Michael.
Our mentor, Professor Bennett, would be pleased no doubt!

He would have suggested using a bigger hammer.

Globe came in, looks great.

Making a template for the lower side doors.

Step one pick up 2 sheets of card stock from the dollar store near work.

Step 2 place one under the gap left by said missing door.

Step 3 grab can of paint from paint locker and give it a quick try.

Step 4 cut out template with trama shears in my medic bag in the truck.

Yes, it was arts and craft time in the shop yesterday.

Cut out temp from sheet steel and alum. Will try both out then decide what works best before cutting one for the other side.

I would suggest a couple of metal reproduction doors. There are not expensive and will compliment your restoration. Just my humble opinion. Dave

Have to agree!

Larry

Michael!!!! It seems you have now forgotten what you had learned. What important step have you left out here?!
(HINT....it rhymes with "here"!)
Dave

LOL, never forget that. Will include it more often in my pics.

After working on my house site for a few hours after work yesterday I only had time to check out the front door decal that came in the mail. Gold with black outline. I know a little much but I am trying to match another 117 I have pics of.

michael

Finished tapping the rods today. Its always a good idea to place stuff like this between two blocks of wood in your vise. Prevents the jaws of the vise from mucking up your steel.

Playing around with some dummy selector handle ideas.

Rear long door fitted.....

Rear long door painted.....

Cleaned up the hat and gave a couple coats of fresh red...
pic is not of the last coat.

After cleaning up the underside of the hat I hit it with end rust for a couple coats before hitting it with the red.....

I admit.....the tree is giving me fits a little. Finally got one side out. Cost me a couple of jig saw blades though. May just have to sit down with a couple of adult beverages and go back to the good old hack saw blade idea.

michael

Soak it for a couple of days in penetrant of your choice then use a small chisel and work to the center. Use a tap to clean up the threads when finished. Take your time and stay out of the beer until finished. lol Dave

This weekend was able to do test fittings with the rods I made. Went pretty well.

michael

Cleaned up the cylinder and painted the rings.

Cleaned up and painted the tubes.

Still making the pump handle and doors. After they are done next up will e making the side conduits.

michael

Sorry so long with out updates.

Made a handle for the pump last weekend will post pics soon. Nothing fancy, again this is a quick and cheap rebuild. Down the road I will collect original parts to do a full 'as close as possible to 100% original' restoration.

Almost have all the conduits threads back from the dead. So dropped by Lowes and had them thread the steel pipes for me. Next step will be to try my pipe bender on a few test pieces before I give the conduits the needed 90 degree turns.

Using airplane paint stripper to remove more of the paint in the cracks and such.

Still trying different products on the brass tags, they are slowly coming back. Any suggestions for any kind of coating on them after they are polished?

Advise appreciated as always.

michael

I used to clearcoat all the brass tags after polishing, that works but you lose shine. Lately I've been using Wizards Power Sealer, it goes on like wax. I don't know if it'll hold up or not but so far so good. I think that's good enough if its indoors. Also polishing them to a high shine helps keep the shine last.

You need to purchase lacquer for brass in an aerosol can. HD and Lowes don't carry it, but an Ace Hardware or equivalent will. It yields a transparent, very glossy finish. I used it on my pump tags and brass/copper fire extinguisher. Don't use it when the humidity is over 60% or it will cloud up. I learned that first hand. I then waited until the humidity was below 50%, sprayed it again and the lacquer liquified and the moisture disappeared. Use several of thin coats.

I tried to use a 1/2 conduit bender and it will not produce a 90 degree bend, close, but not close enough. If you purchase a 1/2" pipe Hickey for rigid pipe, you can make a 90 degree bend. I found one on the internet for $62 or you may have an electrician friend that has a 1/2" Hickey.

Again, long time since updates.

Made some sheet metal lower doors yesterday and started painting the base.

Please keep in mind, this is a budget rebuild, long term plan is to buy original parts here and there that will be used to do a 100% resto.

If the weather stays nice I may have time to put it all back together by the end of the weekend.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ONE AND ALL.

Getting closer.

Rough assembly. Top needs to be switched around to properly line up rods. Conduits still to be put on and wiring for globe run.

Coming along nicely.

Always like seeing the progress on your project. Thanks for the update!!
I'm no pump expert, but it's looking pretty darn nice!!

Thanks guys. It is not perfect by any means but I am very happy with it so far. You have to pass my shop to get to our house build site. Have had a couple offers to buy it already but it isn't going anywhere until I am gone to the big gas station in the sky. One contractor even asked if I would restore his 1950s clothes wringer, told him I am no expert and only work on my own stuff. Will take a few pics of my Pop's Tok 39 today. Got it mostly broken down this week.